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Community pledges support for family of slain 9-year-old Brampton boy Kesean Williams

Breakfast fundraiser at David Suzuki Secondary School raises about $2,500 for a scholarship in Kesean’s name, and for his 15-year-old brother

Tanya Garvey, mother of Kesean Williams, hugged supporters as they gathered to remember her son and pledge their support for the family. About 100 people attended a memorial breakfast and fundraiser for Kesean Williams at David Suzuki Secondary School in Brampton on Saturday. (Madhavi Acharya-Tom Yew / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

We will not forget Kesean Williams, and we will support those who, with broken hearts, go on living without him.

That was the pledge made at the memorial breakfast and fundraiser held in honour of Williams, the 9-year-old Brampton boy fatally shot Jan. 23 while watching television in his living room. The case remains unsolved.

“We should be safe in our homes. We all think that we are. Unfortunately Kesean was not,” Winston Mapp, Sr. said at the event, held at David Suzuki Secondary School in Brampton on Saturday. Mapp is the president of the Free For All Foundation, which helped organize the fundraiser.

“The rosebud did not open long enough. We give thanks for the short time that he was with us. We will not forget him. He will live on in our hearts.”

Audrey Littlejohn, a teacher at Sir Winston Churchill public school, remembered Williams as a “bright light” in her classroom, who asked plenty of questions. “He was always coming back and saying, ‘Miss Littlejohn, is that really true?’” she said.

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Amid songs and plates piled high with scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes, and fresh fruit, community leaders spoke of supporting Williams’ mother, Tanya Garvey and his 15-year-old-brother Kajan, now clutched by grief and financial need.

Garvey gave thanks for the support in an emotional interview following the memorial. “I know now that I have people to lean on,” she told reporters.

As she described her son as a boy with “the biggest smile” and “the brightest eyes,” Garvey said she wants Toronto to understand the devastating effect of gun violence.

“People already know that guns kill. Guns destroy a family and break hearts. Once you pull the trigger, and take that action, you can’t take that back. I want people to realize that,” Garvey said.

“I’ve thought about suicide, running away, hiding under the bed . . . but I have to be strong for Kajan because he needs me.”

The breakfast raised approximately $2,500, said David Green, Peel District School Board trustee and executive director of Free For All.

A scholarship has been created in Williams’ name and will be awarded each year at Sir Winston Churchill. The first scholarship will go to Kajan, Green said, with the funds held in trust until he is ready to attend college or university.

The foundation has made arrangements for Garvey, who has been staying with friends, to move into an apartment in June.

“I’ve never seen a community come together so much. The support is just pouring in,” Green said. “This is a great cause and we hope to do this annually to support and allow Kesean’s legacy to live on.”

“Tanya is a mother. I’m a mother and I’m the mayor of a city where a tragedy has occurred. I will make all the time I can to stand in show of support of Tanya,” Brampton Mayor Susan Fennell said.

“They say it takes a community to raise a child. We don’t have the chance to raise Kesean anymore, but we have the opportunity to support his family in moving through terrible grief,” said Hazel Mason, superintendent of education for the Peel District School Board.

“It’s my goal to make sure they don’t have anything to worry about except getting better. We need to do whatever we can to make sure they have the necessities of life, and they’re struggling with that right now.”

The aim of the event was also to raise awareness of the impact of crime in the community, Green said. “My hope is not only that the legacy of this young boy will live on, but that we all come out and stand up against crime and violence in our community.”

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